>>> the day start the with her talking about some difficult moments in her personal life . but tonight mrs. ann romney will speak to the nation about her husband. and if republicans and many pundits are to be believed then there's a good deal right in what she says. because everyone knows that mitt romney has a big problem with women voters. and he knows that left unchecked this problem could spell certain doom for him come november 6th . and that's why so many republicans are so desperate for ann romney to save the day. but is it really possible that one speech will be enough to close the gender gap ? and can mrs. romney make so many women forget why they've never trusted her nor the gop? sorry, her husband -- in the first place? let's ask msnbc contributor joy reid and crystal ball here in new york. thank you both. joy, all the things that republicans and pundits have led us to believe, ann romney 's speech could do, is it fair to expect mrs. romney to shoulder such a heavy burden?
>> you know, martin, i think that's an interesting question. ann romney 's speech was actually prioritized by the romney campaign. they wanted to make sure that she was able to speak during the sort of maximum television coverage because it's so important for them that she come out and try to human it's her husband. i think some of those expectations were put on let's say michelle obama in '08. but for ann romney , she's really got to do several things that are a tremendous burden. she's got to reverse this image that the romneys are sort of aristocratic and entitled, some of which she's contributed herself with her own comments. she's got to fill in a huge blank with her husband, mitt romney , who people by the polls at least don't really seem to know. she'll have to fill in those personal details. i think it is a huge burden to put on her but it's because her husband hasn't done it.
>> crystal, how can a 20-minute speech resolve a 20-point gender differential, leave alone the fact that not even one-third of voters appear to like her husband?
>> right. it's not just the gender gap that they're expecting her to close, they want her to work on the likeability gap, which as you know is massive. it really isn't an unfair burden. it really isn't a fair burden. and i don't think it's possible. you can't just have someone in the family saying, i promise, he's likeable, he's warm, he's a good guy. you have to as the candidate be able to portray that yourself. you can't have someone in the family just fetelling the story.
>> that's been happening over the last 24 hours . we've seen the five sons paraded across something like five networks. now his wife is giving this speech today. that's their strategy, isn't it? get the family out.
>> i think it is. on the other hand, you also have mitt romney making a lot of comments like, i am what i am. basically saying, i'm not even going to try to sell myself as a compelling person who can connect with people, i'm going to rely on my family members to do it. i just don't think that is an effective strategy. he's got to be vulnerable himself. it's not enough for his wife to be warm and to connect with the audience, he has to be warm and connect with the american people .
>> right. joy, when mrs. romney comes to the podium tonight there's going to be an enormous elephant in the room . by that i don't mean the party mascot. let's take a listen.
>> this is language that was stock language used for lots of different bills, bills i didn't author. that language was removed to be very clear and i agree with that. rape is rape, period, end of story.
>> i wasn't going to mention chris christie , though you thought i was. the very idea of forcible rape as merely, i'm referring to the words of mr. ryan, stock language, it makes an impression on people. i think perhaps especially with women voters. is mrs. romney a strong enough figure to make them forget that impression, forget about todd akin and everything else?
>> that's one of the issues. usually when you have somebody, an endorser of a constituency you want to claim, normally it's not a member of the family, number two, they themselves represent that constituency. so that joe biden represented the everyman, the working class white voter. as a stand-in he was the right guy to be the endorser for barack obama in 2008 . ann romney , on the other hand, because she herself is pro-life too, it's a little bit difficult because the constituency that he needs to reach, the people he needs to soften his many major with, because paul ryan is there, because paul ryan has taken extreme positions on the abortion issue, you would need someone who is simpatico with women who that issue and can speak to it in an eloquent but real way. i don't think ann romney has shown she's that person, and i don't know if she agrees with akin or not. i think it will resonate with women here in the room because they themselves are pro-life, they themselves are republicans. outside of that, i'm not so sure.
>> i'm sorry to interrupt you, there appears to be some kind of disturbance on the floor. we're not certain of what's causing it. it appears to be something in relation to the credentialing committee. we'll continue. as you can hear in the background. i wanted to ask about some of the optics we've seen, this effort to reimagine mr. romney , buttermilk pancakes and peanut butter .
>> costco .
>> and of course costco . let's take a listen.
>> also got me one of these three-packs of shirts from costco . and they're very nice shirts.
>> the kirkland shirts, he's wearing them all the time. that shirt looks pretty good, i got it at costco .
>> they have personal assets of almost $300 million. did that seem artificial, to be suggesting they go to costco ? not that there's anything wrong with costco .
>> i was there over the weekend myself. i think whether it's true or not, it seems so forced. they're trying so hard to relate to the american people . look, i wear costco shirts too! i make pancakes! this is normal family stuff! to me it seems very forced. i would say mitt romney is at his best when ann is by his side. he seems more comfortable. you can tell that he really deeply loves her, which is one of the most human things that you get from him.
>> nobody's disputed that.
>> absolutely. but at the same time, they're trying too hard. he doesn't have a way of connecting with the american people without directly saying, i'm likeable, i connect with people, i was the president of my fraternity. he can't go beyond that and make a real connection with people.
>> joy, i had a phone call with somebody who left a message saying, you should point out those shirts are actually made in china. i've not been able to confirm that. but are you persuaded by the fact that he wears and buys shirts from costco ? does that do anything for you?
>> i think krystal is absolutely right. the problem is they seem to have pulled out a script and said, what is the normal american family like? they're starting to read from it, rather than talking about their authentic experience. nobody really expects someone who is very close to a billionaire to shop at costco . they should talking about their real lives, their real experience. people don't have a problem with the romneys being wealthy. but when you come across as fraudulent, it's condescending to suggest being a normal american and playacting a normal american means coming up with tropes like shopping at costco . i don't think it's authentic because i don't think it's real. maybe they do, but you know what, they're rich enough to own costco so it's difficult to make it work.
>> joy reid and the costco -shopping krystal ball, thank you so
>> you know, martin, i think that's an interesting question. ann romney 's speech was actually prioritized by the romney campaign. they wanted to make sure that she was able to speak during the sort of maximum television coverage because it's so important for them that she come out and try to human it's her husband. i think some of those expectations were put on let's say michelle obama in '08. but for ann romney , she's really got to do several things that are a tremendous burden. she's got to reverse this image that the romneys are sort of aristocratic and entitled, some of which she's contributed herself with her own comments. she's got to fill in a huge blank with her husband, mitt romney , who people by the polls at least don't really seem to know. she'll have to fill in those personal details. i think it is a huge burden to put on her but it's because her husband hasn't done it.
>> crystal, how can a 20-minute speech resolve a 20-point gender differential, leave alone the fact that not even one-third of voters appear to like her husband?
>> right. it's not just the gender gap that they're expecting her to close, they want her to work on the likeability gap, which as you know is massive. it really isn't an unfair burden. it really isn't a fair burden. and i don't think it's possible. you can't just have someone in the family saying, i promise, he's likeable, he's warm, he's a good guy. you have to as the candidate be able to portray that yourself. you can't have someone in the family just fetelling the story.
>> that's been happening over the last 24 hours . we've seen the five sons paraded across something like five networks. now his wife is giving this speech today. that's their strategy, isn't it? get the family out.
>> i think it is. on the other hand, you also have mitt romney making a lot of comments like, i am what i am. basically saying, i'm not even going to try to sell myself as a compelling person who can connect with people, i'm going to rely on my family members to do it. i just don't think that is an effective strategy. he's got to be vulnerable himself. it's not enough for his wife to be warm and to connect with the audience, he has to be warm and connect with the american people .
>> right. joy, when mrs. romney comes to the podium tonight there's going to be an enormous elephant in the room . by that i don't mean the party mascot. let's take a listen.
>> this is language that was stock language used for lots of different bills, bills i didn't author. that language was removed to be very clear and i agree with that. rape is rape, period, end of story.
>> i wasn't going to mention chris christie , though you thought i was. the very idea of forcible rape as merely, i'm referring to the words of mr. ryan, stock language, it makes an impression on people. i think perhaps especially with women voters. is mrs. romney a strong enough figure to make them forget that impression, forget about todd akin and everything else?
>> that's one of the issues. usually when you have somebody, an endorser of a constituency you want to claim, normally it's not a member of the family, number two, they themselves represent that constituency. so that joe biden represented the everyman, the working class white voter. as a stand-in he was the right guy to be the endorser for barack obama in 2008 . ann romney , on the other hand, because she herself is pro-life too, it's a little bit difficult because the constituency that he needs to reach, the people he needs to soften his many major with, because paul ryan is there, because paul ryan has taken extreme positions on the abortion issue, you would need someone who is simpatico with women who that issue and can speak to it in an eloquent but real way. i don't think ann romney has shown she's that person, and i don't know if she agrees with akin or not. i think it will resonate with women here in the room because they themselves are pro-life, they themselves are republicans. outside of that, i'm not so sure.
>> i'm sorry to interrupt you, there appears to be some kind of disturbance on the floor. we're not certain of what's causing it. it appears to be something in relation to the credentialing committee. we'll continue. as you can hear in the background. i wanted to ask about some of the optics we've seen, this effort to reimagine mr. romney , buttermilk pancakes and peanut butter .
>> costco .
>> and of course costco . let's take a listen.
>> also got me one of these three-packs of shirts from costco . and they're very nice shirts.
>> the kirkland shirts, he's wearing them all the time. that shirt looks pretty good, i got it at costco .
>> they have personal assets of almost $300 million. did that seem artificial, to be suggesting they go to costco ? not that there's anything wrong with costco .
>> i was there over the weekend myself. i think whether it's true or not, it seems so forced. they're trying so hard to relate to the american people . look, i wear costco shirts too! i make pancakes! this is normal family stuff! to me it seems very forced. i would say mitt romney is at his best when ann is by his side. he seems more comfortable. you can tell that he really deeply loves her, which is one of the most human things that you get from him.
>> nobody's disputed that.
>> absolutely. but at the same time, they're trying too hard. he doesn't have a way of connecting with the american people without directly saying, i'm likeable, i connect with people, i was the president of my fraternity. he can't go beyond that and make a real connection with people.
>> joy, i had a phone call with somebody who left a message saying, you should point out those shirts are actually made in china. i've not been able to confirm that. but are you persuaded by the fact that he wears and buys shirts from costco ? does that do anything for you?
>> i think krystal is absolutely right. the problem is they seem to have pulled out a script and said, what is the normal american family like? they're starting to read from it, rather than talking about their authentic experience. nobody really expects someone who is very close to a billionaire to shop at costco . they should talking about their real lives, their real experience. people don't have a problem with the romneys being wealthy. but when you come across as fraudulent, it's condescending to suggest being a normal american and playacting a normal american means coming up with tropes like shopping at costco . i don't think it's authentic because i don't think it's real. maybe they do, but you know what, they're rich enough to own costco so it's difficult to make it work.
>> joy reid and the costco -shopping krystal ball, thank you so